The present crisis is scary, but only because no one knows what crazy new scheme the government will introduce every other day. Resources were invested improperly during the housing boom, and the economy needs time to heal itself. There is no way around this fact. The sooner the government gets out of the way, the sooner recovery can begin. But even “free market” media such as the Wall Street Journal cling to Keynesian pump-priming, which — by the media’s own admission — didn’t help Japan and in fact caused the housing boom.